Refrigerator car floor rack



Aug. 8, 193. K. E. ZEIDLER REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR RACK Filed Oct. 21, 1937 fizz/73227):

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATOR GAR FLOOR RACK Kurt E. Zeidler, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application October 21, 1937, Serial No. 170,156

1 Claim.

The invention relates to insulated refrigerator cars used to transport perishable commodities, such as vegetables, fruits, berries, meats, eggs, frozen fish, etc., and to maintain such commodities while in transit within a predetermined range of temperature, thus necessitating the use of a cooling means in the summer and a heating means in the winter. It has been found that perishable commodities which have not been allowed to get too cold (freeze) or too hot (bake) have a high market value because they have a longer storage life.

The object of the invention is to provide a floor rack for a refrigerator car which is very strong to support vertical loads and has great I strength in a horizontal direction (to resist the tendency of a shifting load to move the floor rack sidewise) without materially retarding the flow of air below the floor rack or materially reducing the amount of air flow through the floor rack.

In the drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 show the correlation of my device to the other elements of 'a refrigerator car.

Fig. 3 shows one form of my improved floor rack.

Fig. 4 shows a modified construction of my rack.

In the form of my invention illustrated the refrigerator car is provided with a bulkhead 2 separating the refrigerant chamber 3 from the lading compartment 4. The bulkhead 2 is providedwith an aperture 5 adjacent the floor 6 of the car and an aperture 1 adjacent the ceil- 35 ing 8 of the car with a solid wall 9 therebetween. A refrigerant is supported by the grates l2 in the refrigerant chamber 3 in spaced relation to the floor 6 of thecar and the basket (or netting) l3 spaces the refrigerant from the end wall l4 and bulkhead 2 to provide the fines l6-ll. The apertured floor rack [8 supports the lading so as to provide the space 2!) which communicates with the flues |6--l1. A refrigerant, such as ice, in the refrigerant chamber induces a convection circulation of air from the flues Iii-l1 through the flue space and the aperture 2| in the floor rack I8, and as the air is warmed by the lading, it rises and passes through the bulkhead upper opening 1, and thence through the flues |6l'l, and being cooled by the refrigerant, repeats the convection cycle.

My improved floor rack comprises a plurality of spaced apart preferably metallic strips 30, each formed with upper (3|) and lower (32) portions 5 in spaced apart substantially parallel planes connected by webs 33 with the alternate webs sloping in opposite directions for stability. A tie strap 35 is preferably secured to the lower portions 32 by welding or otherwise, which prevents the webs 33 from spreading apart under load and also increases the bearing area of the metallic strips (or stringers, as they are called) upon the floor 6 of the car. The foraminous floor itself comprises a plurality of spaced apart parallel slats 31 extending normally to the direction of the strips 30 with each slat spanning the distance between adjacent (and preferably supported by) the upper portions 3| of the strips 3|]. The spaces 38 between the slats 31 provide the apertures in the floor rack for air circulation.

Fig. 3 shows the slats made of metal bars with depending marginal flanges 40 resting upon and secured to the upper portions 3| of the strips 30. These slats may be perforated (4|) if desired to increase the circulation of air through the foraminous floor. The slats preferably extend parallel to the direction of movement of the air current, in which case the ends of the strips 30 are curled to form a hinge butt (34) to hinge the floor rack to the side wall or other fixed part of the car.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the foraminous floor comprises a preferably perforated metallic plate formed with alternate upper and lower (5|) parts in spaced apart substantially parallel planes connected by webs 52, with the lower parts of the metallic sheet resting upon and secured to the upper (3|) portions of the strips 30. In these constructions the webs and the adjacent portions of the upper and lower parts form beams between the metallic strips (or stringers) to support the lading between the stringers.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claim, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a refrigerator car having a floor, a rack for supporting a lading in spaced relation to sa d floor to provide a flue therebetween, and means to induce an air current in said flue, said rack comprising a plurality of spaced apart strips each formed with alternate upper and lower portions in spaced apart parallel planes connected by webs, and a plurality of spaced apart parallel slats extending normally to said strips with each slat spanning the distance between adjacent' upper portions of the strips, each slat formed of a metallic sheet with marginal depending flanges secured to said upper portions of the strips.

KURT E. ZEIDLER. 

